Doom: The Dark Ages Gets Its First Major Patch, Here’s What To Expect

Doom The Dark Ages quickly became one of the most played entries in franchise history, as gamers were intrigued by several of the changes and enhancements the new sequel brings to the Doom formula. Now, a little over two weeks after its initial release, Bethesda is pushing out the game’s first big update. Players can look forward to tweaks in gameplay, an improvement to the way the audio hits and various bug fixes.

One of the bigger changes is to the Atlan, which is a giant mech that makes an appearance in some of the game’s levels. Bethesda updated the combo system to allow players to use a stored Finisher move. “This creates a more dynamic combat experience that rewards building up multiple Finishers for extended combos and more strategic decision-making.”


Moreover, players can expect to encounter even more demons standing between them and completing missions. The Village of Khalim, Hebeth, Sentinel Barracks, The Holy City of Aratum, Siege and Resurrection have all had enemies added. This should increase the difficulty, which is likely the result of having some fans share that there wasn’t much challenge to be found in this latest entry.

The soundtrack is one of the key elements to a great Doom experience, but The Dark Ages had some issues. Update 1 looks to address this by adjusting the audio mix to bring a balance between the sound effects and music. Bethesda recommends that audio settings be set to default to take advantage of the changes made. Additionally, the various sound effects that happen when sprinting are now disabled when auto-sprint is used.


Update 1 also squashes many bugs. Some of the fixes include taking care of a crash that can happen in Siege Part 1 after destroying a gore portal, giving players more control when using HDR to avoid colors becoming washed out, audio and subtitle improvements during cinematics, and weapons, such as the Shield Saw and Shredder, will no longer become unusable. Trophy hunters will also be happy to hear that the Berserker achievement will now pop when it’s supposed to, which will also apply retroactively.

This is a solid update that should make Doom The Dark Ages an even better experience than it already is.